(no subject)
There are many reasons to hate libertarianism, but that's like shooting fish in a barrel. Too many of them at the grassroots level pretend that they apply cold, hard facts to their thought processes, but in reality, they take a few overblown stories about, say, the deficiencies in publicly-funded health care systems around the world, or stories about people who abuse the welfare system- these stories then go on to inform their worldview that welfare is inherently evil, or that publicly-funded health care is a nasty thing that will inevitably result in longer patient wait times, a doctor brain drain, etc.
I'm not saying that people with other political viewpoints don't make the same deficient logical leaps (I know they often do), but it seems to happen a lot with your average Joe Libertarian. I don't know- perhaps von Mises is a little too wordy for most of them, so they latch on to anything that stirs their own outrage at public spending, e.g. welfare. I agree that we need to trim the fat in some places (when it comes to public spending), but I don't agree that starting with a system that any one of us could depend on at any time is the place to start. I went from a 50,000 job to having to live on an income that is less than half of the poverty line. I can't work at the moment- due to severe pelvic pain (pregnancy-related), I can't even sit up for long periods of time (anything longer than an hour and the pain is pretty agonizing). If we could move to an even cheaper area, we would, if there was enough money to move and a cheaper area that was safe enough to raise a family in. I didn't think we'd have to rely on public assistance, but it's getting to the point where we will. We spent a good portion of our savings on the move to a house my father-in-law owns (no longer able to afford the rent on the place we were living in at the time), and the army didn't pan out for my husband; he is too old to be considered for other branches of the U.S. military.
Mind you, none of this actually goes to the roots of libertarianism itself, but to its rabid followers. I believe that pure libertarianism is a morally bankrupt system that caters to the intellectually lazy, but that's another story.
Fuck it. My blood pressure is through the roof as it is; I don't need more stress. I fucking hate my fucking life. No wonder I don't use this journal anymore and switched to spiritosa- this one's a goddamn angst magnet.
I'm not saying that people with other political viewpoints don't make the same deficient logical leaps (I know they often do), but it seems to happen a lot with your average Joe Libertarian. I don't know- perhaps von Mises is a little too wordy for most of them, so they latch on to anything that stirs their own outrage at public spending, e.g. welfare. I agree that we need to trim the fat in some places (when it comes to public spending), but I don't agree that starting with a system that any one of us could depend on at any time is the place to start. I went from a 50,000 job to having to live on an income that is less than half of the poverty line. I can't work at the moment- due to severe pelvic pain (pregnancy-related), I can't even sit up for long periods of time (anything longer than an hour and the pain is pretty agonizing). If we could move to an even cheaper area, we would, if there was enough money to move and a cheaper area that was safe enough to raise a family in. I didn't think we'd have to rely on public assistance, but it's getting to the point where we will. We spent a good portion of our savings on the move to a house my father-in-law owns (no longer able to afford the rent on the place we were living in at the time), and the army didn't pan out for my husband; he is too old to be considered for other branches of the U.S. military.
Mind you, none of this actually goes to the roots of libertarianism itself, but to its rabid followers. I believe that pure libertarianism is a morally bankrupt system that caters to the intellectually lazy, but that's another story.
Fuck it. My blood pressure is through the roof as it is; I don't need more stress. I fucking hate my fucking life. No wonder I don't use this journal anymore and switched to spiritosa- this one's a goddamn angst magnet.